Sinus Health And Humidity Posted: 12-20-07 17:41pm
Hi, last year I had sinus surgery to
clear chronic sinusitis. I'm in good
health now and want to keep it that way.
my problem is that I seem to be very
sensitive to humidity, specifically when
it's too low. I live in Northern
Virginia where it's very dry in the
winter. The HVAC system in my office
makes it even dryer and I've been getting
burning eyes, nose and sinus headaches by
about 3pm each day at work.
Now, since surgery I learned better sinus
hygiene, so I've been doing twice a day
sinus rinses which do help. I've tried
saline nasal sprays at work and they seem
to moisturize my nostrils but do nothing
for my sinuses. I also have a humidifier
in my bedroom so I start out each day
feeling fine.
Any other ideas to make me feel better and
have a full productive day at work? (BTW,
I've ALWAYS been sensitive to humidity, it
didn't just start after my surgery, if
that helps.)
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MandMs
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 2268 Location: Strumica, Macedonia
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Posted: 12-28-07 05:58am
A comfortable humidity level for an
average person ranges between 30% and
65-70%, depending on activity, but the
recommended humidity level is between 30%
and 50%.
When there is a insufficient moisture in
the air, nose, throat and skin feel dry
and scratchy (makes the mucous membranes
inside the nose and throat , organism's
first barrier against airborne infections,
dry and more susceptible to diseases)
Low humidity, also, makes mucus produced
by sinuses membrane to be thicker and more
likely to block sinus openings, thus
causing pressure inside the sinus cavities
that leads to sinus headaches.
Have you thought of using water sprayers
or humidifier at your office, or you can
simply turn off the excessive air
conditioning?
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jetcitywoman
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 2
Posted: 12-28-07 09:06am
Thank you for your reply. A couple years
ago I tried using a humidifier on my desk
at work. It was simply unable to compete
with the building HVAC system. It was a
residential sized humidifier and my desk
is in a cubicle farm on something like a
2000 sq foot open-plan office floor.
Also at the time I brought in a little
humidistat, the kind that's intended to
measure humidity in a basement. It
typically started out in the morning at
around 25% and was often down to 19% by
afternoon.
Once I emailed our building managers to
ask about the humidity and if they had any
control over it. She replied that they
don't, and that they try very hard to take
humidity OUT of the air, not put it back
in. I thought that was very stupid (but I
didn't reply back to her saying that). In
the U.S. northeast area summers are humid
but winters are dry. If you take already
dry winter air and dry it even further
with the building HVAC, you get Sahara
conditions in your office.
I've been very frustrated with this in an
otherwise terrific workplace. It doesn't
seem to bother my coworkers, which makes
me feel like a prima dona. Maybe I can
use it as an excuse to start a home
office, but I don't know how well they'll
take it.
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MandMs
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 26 Jan 2007 Posts: 2268 Location: Strumica, Macedonia
Thanks: 46
Thanked:11
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Posted: 01-16-08 04:31am
You can complete some papers with medical
informations via internet about relation
between humidity and medical issues and
give it to your manager.
Also, it will be helpful to get a written
opinion from your GP or surgeon with
medical explanation about working place
affecting your health.
Definitely, you can use it as a excuse to
work at home or building managers will
need to take in consideration turning off
the excessive air conditioning.
